1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to micro devices and methods of manufacturing and using micro devices. In particular this disclosure relates to controlling features of a surface of a micro device, such as beadchip microarray devices, which may be configured, for example for use in detecting DNA, RNA and proteins, MEMS or NEMS devices, etc.
2. Description of the Related Art
A beadchip microarray is a device that is typically constructed using an array of functionalized beads (for example, detection probes attached to beads rather than directly to a substrate). Beadchip microarrays may be used, for example, as DNA detection devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,033, entitled “System for the Automatic Analysis of Images Such as DNA Microarray Images,” and issued to Arena, et al. The beads are typically attached to the substrate via entrapment in an array of wells or depressions. The substrate may be planer or have other shapes. The beads may be spherical, for example, the beads may be microspheres, or may have other shapes. The substrate may be made of a variety of materials, and often may be made of a material that facilitates optical detection, such as glass or plastics that do not interfere with detection of fluoresce of beads. The substrate may, for example, be a terminal end of a bundle of fiber optic cables, with a well formed in a terminal end of each cable in the bundle. In another example, the substrate may comprise a plurality of wells. The size of a well may depend on a type of bead to be attached to the well. The beads may be held in the wells by forces which may comprise, for example, covalent, ionic and electrostatic forces and preparations creating a hydrophobic or hydrophilic surface condition, and various combinations thereof. The technology uses substrate/bead pairings that allows the association or the link of the beads at the wells on the surface substrate to be detected. See Arena. It is desirable to avoid movement of the beads from the wells during the course of an assay. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,033,754, entitled “Decoding of Array Sensors with Microspheres,” and issued to Chee, et al.
Micro-ElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS) refers to microscopic mechanical devices, such as sensors, actuators, and electronics, typically fabricated on or in silicon chips or a silicon substrate using micro-fabrication technology. For example, a MEMS device may comprise a first suspended electrode and a second electrode separated by a submicron opening. MEMS devices may generally comprise moveable components such as mechanical components and may, for example, range in size from a micrometer (a millionth of a meter) to a millimeter (a thousandth of a meter), and can include three-dimensional lithographic features employing various geometries.
Typical applications for MEMS devices and systems include piezoelectrics for printers or bubble ejection of ink, accelerometers to control the deployment of airbags, gyroscopes for dynamic stability control, pressure sensors used in transportation and medical applications, such as car tire pressure sensors and disposable blood pressure sensors, micromirrors used to form displays, optical switching technology for data communications, and heated chambers for fluidic applications.
A related technology to MEMS devices are Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems (NEMS), which are similar to MEMS but on a smaller scale, including displacements and forces at the molecular and atomic scales. MEMS, NEMS and nanotechnology facilitate providing mechanical and electrical devices on, for example, a single chip, that may be much smaller, more functional and reliable, and produced at a fraction of the cost of conventional macroscale elements.